Our

Village

Stonnall Ward

(Including Lynn, Thornes, Lower Stonnall, New Barnes, Bosses and Mill Green)

(Lichfield District)

“It is intended to pull together all the information in the strategy into a comprehensive Village plan that will demonstrate what benefits we can achieve by working together as a Community.”

(CLG Web site)

Front Runner October 2011 Our Village Stonnall Ward, Lichfield DC.

(Including Lynn, Thornes, Lower Stonnall, New Barnes, Bosses and Mill Green) Project Leader Cllr. David Smith, Lichfield DC. Member for Stonnall Ward. Ormside House, Church Road, Stonnall. Staffordshire. WS9 9HL. Tel: (H) 01543 374690 (M) 07831 533550 Email: [email protected]

Neighbourhood Planning Front Runner scheme.

Dear Sir, October 2011

The community of Stonnall is part of Lichfield DC. Situated in SE Staffordshire on the edge of the West Midlands. Our Village is set in the heart of the green belt and because of its closeness to the conurbation it is regarded as extremely vulnerable.

We see the Localism Bill as an opportunity for a small village to show how we can respond to the core message. The Village Plan. “It is intended to pull together all the information in the strategy into a comprehensive Village plan that will demonstrate what benefits we can achieve by working together as a Community” (CLG Website)

We believe that our Community is exceptional in the way a small Village of only 1200 adult population works together to deliver many of the things that the Bill hopes to achieve. We also recognise the requirement to address the needs of both an ageing population and those setting out in life.

Organisations like Age UK. and The Woodland Trust have asked that we discuss some of our concepts with them.

Our submission covers both what we propose together with the action we are already taking and for that reason the document with the attachment to demonstrate what we are already undertaking. The difficulty we face is the cost of professional help to deliver the housing element of the vision which although small by most standards will satisfy our needs analysis.

Our strategy is an open living document and is subject to constant improvement through both our groups and residents who are all involved in continuing consultation.

Although we may be one of the smallest applicants to seek to become a front runner, should we be successful our recognition may demonstrate to other Villages what can be achieved. The suggestion by the Minister Greg Clark that we should submit an application gave us encouragement that the thrust of the bill was not just for large Councils but could be all encompassing.

Yours faithfully

Cllr. David Smith

District Council House, Frog Lane Lichfield, Staffs. WS13 6YU

Your ref Switchboard + 44 (0) 1543 308000 Our ref RK/JM Fax + 44 (0) 1543 308200 Ask for Richard King Direct Line + 44 (0) 1543 308060 Email [email protected] Minicom only + 44 (0) 1543 308078

31 October 2011

Alison Cremin Planning - Development Plans Department for Communities and Local Government Eland House, Bressenden Place London SW1E 5DU

Dear Sir

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING FRONT RUNNERS APPLICATION

Please find attached an application for the Neighbourhood Planning front runners programme in respect of the village of Stonnall which falls within Lichfield District.

The District Council is working towards the Publication stage of its Core Strategy. To inform its approach towards addressing the long term needs of its rural areas it has been undertaking intensive engagement with its larger and more sustainable rural communities as these are the key focus for potential development. This work has been undertaken in conjunction with CABE and resulted from a successful bid to CLG’s Rural Masterplanning Fund. We have also undertaken work with ATLAS looking at another settlement which has particular complications in planning and development terms.

As a slightly smaller village with no significant development proposals via the Core Strategy, Stonnall has not been part of either of these work programmes. However, the community has expressed a very strong desire to begin to plan its own future, in line with the emerging LDF, within the context of the Parish, and within the spirit of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill. The intensive work undertaken by local residents themselves is particularly significant given that the other two key settlements within this parish (Shenstone and Little Aston) are two of the six settlements which formed part of the CLG- funded Rural Masterplanning project, so Stonnall’s work locally would help to complete an overall picture for the Parish and could also help to inform the LDF.

We would therefore support this application.

I attach a map showing Stonnall Ward.

Yours sincerely

Richard King FCIS MIMgt Strategic Director – Democratic, Development and Legal Services

Democratic, Development & Legal Services Strategic Director Richard K King FCIS MIMgt

Minister for Decentralisation Rt.Hon. Greg Clark MP (centre) receives the Stonnall Draft Strategy

from Cllr David Smith (right) and local MP Chris Pincher

1) Stonnall - An outline of our Village

Stonnall is a village together with its surrounding hamlets of just over 1,200 adults and is situated in South

East Staffordshire within the Lichfield District Council area, in the Tamworth Constituency. The village sits on the edge of the West Midlands and looks across the Green Belt into Aldridge. The Community is fiercely independent and looks to be self-supporting with its many and varied activities.

These include the Gardeners' Guild, Stonnall Players, Stonnall Singers, Line Dancing, Tai Chi, the Conservation and Historical Society, SCAR (a community campaign group working to improve the local

highway infrastructure), the Women’s Institute, the Coffee Club (a weekly community get-together) and

Neighbourhood Watch which together with youth and children’s groups that include the Brownies, Guides, Beavers, Cub Scouts, Scouts, a pre-school play group and baby and toddler groups.

There are two Community Halls which provide venues which host a comprehensive range of activities and events; these are heavily used for both daytime and evening activities. Both halls are also extensively used by residents for private functions, there is also an active Parish Church and a Playing Field.

Stonnall has a higher than average retired population with many of its residents moving into new homes in the 1950/60s. They brought up their children here and have continued to live here for the majority of their adult lives. Housing ranges from two and three bedroom bungalows to a number of up-market homes.

There is a limited amount of social housing that includes some flats. The Village also boasts two public houses and a thriving Primary School now with 131 pupils on the roll. There is a small shopping area

which primarily consists of a general store/newsagent, ladies hairdressers, a fish and chip take away and a small restaurant. The Village suffers badly from commuter traffic and speeding vehicles.

Stonnall Ward

Hammerwich Ward

Shenstone Ward

Stonnall Ward

Little Aston Ward¯ Reproduced from The Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Offices (C) Crown Copyright : License No 100017765 Dated 2011

Key Map supplied by Lichfield District Council

Lichfield Boundary

Stonnall Ward

Over 100 residents pack into the Village Hall for the first meeting re the Village strategy

2) On the 17th June 2011

We called a Village meeting to discuss the opportunities that the Localism Bill could present to our Village; the meeting was open to all residents and was held in the Village hall. The response was outstanding with over 100 residents attending. The concept of the Bill was presented and the way we could take it forward. This consisted of 10 challenges: each challenge was taken on by either one of the Village groups or a lead individual, with the intention of producing a comprehensive Village strategy leading to the development of a Village Masterplan.

As a result of this meeting we set-up a series of working groups to report back to a meeting and undertake ongoing consultation with the Village residents.

Our Top 10 Challenges

1. To address the needs of our ageing residents and young people under the community right

to build we should consider the possibility of a small development of semi sheltered homes and starter homes.

2. To decided how can we develop the viability of our shops and possibly bring back a Post Office.

3. To co-ordinate the Village leisure activities.

4. To address the expectations of our young people.

5. To consider what are our expectations regarding Transport and the commuter traffic in the Village.

6. To decide how we should both protect and develop our trees and woodlands and also our

footpaths and buildings of interest.

7. To consider what action we should take to protect our homes and develop community policing.

8. To develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions firstly with our public buildings and then with

our homes and also to consider how we can work together to reduce costs.

9. To consider the role of the Church in the Village.

10. To look to improve communications and internet connectivity

______3) Stonnall Strategy Group.

Members:

Members Expertise Activity Paul Bayliss Town Planner Sustainable Housing Options Jim Pritchard Retired Director of Renewable Energy Options Construction Company Phil Whitehouse Chairman SCAR Highway Strategy Group Peter Terry Historical and Conservation Conservation, Trees, Footpaths Society David Smith District Councillor Project Leader

Chris Hollingsworth Parish Councillor Allotments and Leisure

John Mason Parish Councillor Village Halls

Debra Orgill Village Fundraiser Young People

Lucy Orgill Post 16 Student Opportunities for Young People

Reverend Fred Olney Vicar of Stonnall Church role in the Community

Bob and Jean Folks Neighbourhood Watch Community Safety

Sheila Beilby Parish Councillor and Parish Matters Chairman of Parish Council Malcolm Beilby Retired Resident Communications

John Jones Construction Project Jubilee Walk Project Manager Graham Black Retired Resident Village Representative

Erica Bayliss Staffordshire County Councillor

4) The Village Plan.

a Sustainable Housing and Communities

b The Corner Shop

c Leisure.

d Young People.

e Highways and Transport.

f Conservation.

g Safer Communities.

h Renewable Energy.

i The Church.

j Communications.

Appendix 1. Report from the Sustainable Communities Working Group

The rear of the Shops, A Potential Development Site

a. Sustainable Housing and Communities.

Stonnall has an active community of senior citizens and there are a number of groups that on a self- help basis work very well.

We have a limited retail offer with no chemist or Post Office and also suffer from a lack of decent bus services.

There is also a significant difficulty with residents needing to move to more sheltered accommodation and this requires them to move to other areas where they are unable to maintain lifetime friendships with Stonnall residents.

There is a significant shortage of affordable homes.

The Community Right to build provision in the Bill could open up an opportunity to address this problem and allow for the construction of some retirement bungalows and affordable housing, but to address this problem will require considerable expertise and funding. Our objective is to:

i. Meet the requirement for senior citizens who wish to downsize to semi sheltered

accommodation without having to leave the village. ii. To better meet the needs of younger people/families with affordable homes and at the same

time create a more vibrant mix of age groups.

At present there are only 7 two bedroom bungalows in the village and no provision for sheltered housing. In addition there are 10 two bedroom flats. Population data from the last Village profile produced by Lichfield District Council shows that approximately 30.8% of the total Village population are aged between 60-85+ house prices are a further consideration. Average entry level (cheapest) house is £210,000 compared to Lichfield £152,000.

Out of date 1960’s shops that no longer meet the needs of the community

b. The Corner Shop

The demise of corner shops was to a degree a self-inflicted failure to recognise the way they should compete in a changing market. Shopping Trolley is a concept that considers how the corner shop can compete in the current supermarket world. The problems faced by small shops are under-investment, shelf-life, limited ranges and pricing. To counter this, shops must go back to look at what they were good at i.e. service, home delivery, a community meeting point and value for money.

Many older residents are not computer literate so cannot face the on line supermarket services and are trapped in the Village because of transport problems. Shopping Trolley would allow residents to call into their Village shop and order from a visual shopping list. Then , with shops using a simple logistics computer ordering system from their suppliers goods would arrive in bulk. Using the bar codes they would then allocate them to timed deliveries to customers. This is of course exactly what the supermarkets are doing but Shopping Trolley is your local friendly retailer, not a computer or the voice at the end of a phone. The system would also allow for the supply of locally produced produce and could also link to the local butcher and chemist. It could easily increase to cover a wider range of home delivery supplies. To be successful the project can be quite small for example if 20 residents buy a Shopping Trolley of

£50 each week it would produce an increase in turnover of £52,000 p/a and with a modest net profit of 20% an added income of £10,000.

The Village Playing Fields

c. Leisure.

Stonnall and its outlying areas have a vibrant collection of community activities that spread across two Village Halls, the Church building and the Playing fields. The Church Social Committee’s varied annual

programme of 6 events using different village facilities is open to all and attracts large numbers of villagers. The Village also responds with great enthusiasm to special occasions like the forthcoming Jubilee when we will stage a free Village event for all to enjoy.

Through the auspices of the Parish Council details are being finalised for a site to provide 32 new allotment plots and these will come under the control of a new Allotments Association.

d. Young People

The Village as a whole has concerns about the facilities for our young people; we have a wide range of Groups consisting of Brownie Guides, Guides, Beavers, Cub Scouts and Scouts. Shenstone Rainbow Guides also serves Stonnall: currently 6 of its 16 girls live in Stonnall. St. Peter’s Church’s “Sunday Special” (monthly Sunday afternoon club for children and families) meets in the Youth & Communicty Centre. Average attendance of Stonnall children is 12, with 24 on the books. There is an attempt to

meet the needs of the teenage group with a new youth club. We also have a thriving Primary School, with rising pupil numbers and a Fundraising Group who organise several annual events for children and families.

One of our Strategy team, Lucy Orgill, a post-16 student undertook a survey amongst young residents.

What do young people of the Village want?

“I put together a questionnaire for over 60 young people of the Village. Unfortunately, I only got 10

replies. This is very disappointing.

From the majority of the requests, there were lots for the Park. They requested a better play area for the older children, like Little Aston, organised football and a tennis court.

A Youth club for High School age seems to be quite popular if not weekly, perhaps monthly. In the Village hall or Youth hut, the request was for some activities like pottery. The requests for this were during the School Holidays.

Lucy Orgill

e. Highways and Transport.

There is a very strong campaign group SCAR that works to improve Stonnall roads and transport. They have worked extensively with the County Council to bring about improvements but the difficulty we face is the cost of delivering major change. With ever increasing housing north of the Village the pressures

on the roads to provide rat runs will continue to grow Section 106 funding only assists the local community with issues directly related to the development but takes no account of the wider

implications.

We propose to present a strategy to address long and medium term solutions to include proper control of vehicles accessing narrow lanes at high speed, rat running through our Village, the introduction of reasonable speed limits and safety measures around the school. We also propose as part of our Strategy to develop plans with Staffordshire CC and adjoining Walsall MBC to deliver a new junction at Shire Oak that will open up an alternative route for commuters. Working with Lichfield DC and the

neighbouring village of Shenstone, as part of the emerging Planning strategy we hope to create an improved position regarding the Shenstone business parks use of a site for heavy vehicles to alleviate the issues currently facing the area between Shenstone and Stonnall. If together with Staffordshire CC we can resolve this problem this could result in new sustainable housing on the edge of the next Village

(Shenstone) together with a new Business Park and a solution to a major traffic problem.

f. Conservation.

The residents of the area are very conservation conscious and we have an active Conservation and Historical Society. As part of the Village challenges we recognise the need to protect our buildings of

interest, maintain our footpaths and protect our trees and woodland. South Staffordshire has a below national average of tree cover and we propose to address this. Firstly it is far too difficult to place TPO’s

on trees so we will ask the Government to look at ways in which a community can designate a tree as significant in the landscape and provide interim protection that would require a landowner to notify the

local Council of any major change he wished to make to the tree including its removal. This would be

different from a TPO in that it does not require evidence that the tree is under threat by which time, unless the Council is very quick, the tree is felled before an order is in place. A comprehensive survey of all

trees is already underway. Secondly we propose a plan Trees for the Future to identify sites to plant

1200 trees, one for every adult resident living in the Village.

The Church Lane end of the planned Jubilee Walk

As part of this plan we intend to create a tree lined Jubilee Walk along the side of our playing field. This will also open up a disused footpath giving easy access from one side of the Village to the other and also allow push chair access at both ends. A further proposal is to look again at the possibility of purchasing an area

of land at the back of the Village Hall to connect with the Playing Field. This would allow access to the back area where changing rooms could be constructed for use both as part of the Village Hall facilities and also

provide sports changing facilities for activities associated with the Playing Field.

g. Safer Communities.

It is our intention to make our homes the safest in the Region and as near as possible burglar proof. Our

Neighbourhood Watch team together with the Police have introduced one of the County's first “Smart Water” projects. This will allow possessions to be marked with an exclusive DNA which will warn potential thieves that they risk a much higher likelihood of arrest if they commit crimes in Stonnall. At present the take-up by residents is high. We have also developed a very positive relationship with the Police who regularly attend community meetings.

h. Renewable Energy.

The strategy is initially to develop a plan to reduce carbon emissions at our two community buildings and the Village School. This will not only be beneficial to the community as a whole, but will also act as

exemplar projects, which, through local engagement, will help with the wider strategy of the promotion of sustainable energy efficiency schemes to individual householders throughout the residential area. The Community Centre is located between the Village School and the Doctors Surgery and initial feasibility studies have commenced to look at various appropriate sustainable energy sources for both heat and power for these buildings either as a group or individually. The larger Village Hall stands alone as a community building but again active consideration has commenced with regards to use of renewable energy for both heat and power within this building.

In recent years there has been a steady increase in awareness within communities of the need for energy efficiency. As part of our wider strategy, we would be looking to develop this much further as part of our overall plan for the Village. Considerable learning will be gained through the process for the introduction of the sustainable energy sources for the community buildings, much of which will be just as applicable to individual or groups of residential houses. Part of our plan will be to ensure this information is communicated effectively from the outset to the residents for their own consideration, and also to develop links with appropriate providers and Community Buying Groups in order to provide greater knowledge and efficiencies for the householders. i. The Church.

St Peter’s Church, Stonnall.

St. Peter’s Church is an active community of local people as well as a significant historic building. A large number of the current church members are heavily involved in a wide range of Stonnall community and village activities, including the Parish Council and significant roles in many village organisations, clubs, societies, action groups and voluntary work. Some of the church’s own activities benefiting the wider community are described elsewhere in this report. We are also delighted that strong partnership links continue between the Church and St. Peter’s CE Primary School, through its school ethos, governors and partnership work in education and in the community.

Sitting on a hill overlooking the Parish, St. Peter’s Church is a significant Grade II listed building. Like many buildings approaching their bi-centenary it is in need of constant care and attention if it is to continue its important role within the community. With this in mind the Village came together in 2008 to form the Friends of St Peter’s and they are now raising significant funds to help support the costs of repairs and maintenance of our church building. Annual music concerts and cream teas have been held, as well as other fundraising projects. The history of the church and school has been featured in talks, articles and displays. Stonnall now shares a Vicar with Shenstone but remains a separate parish with its own church building and local Church Council. St Peter’s Church sees itself as involved and relevant for the future of

Stonnall and not just the past.

j. Communications.

We intend to take two steps forward; firstly to work to improve the speed of the Internet service and

secondly to develop a Village Intranet service to provide a rapid news service to residents. We believe that as many as 70% have access to a Computer. The popular, inexpensive, monthly Stonnall Church Parish

magazine serves the whole village community through its inclusion of a broad mixture of local content, news, notices, articles and reports, resources, adverts, contacts etc. The church is pleased to be able to continue to provide this in print to complement internet and other communication.

The Parish Council Newsletter is distributed three times each year to every home, and a weekly column appears in the local Lichfield Mercury newspaper.

Appendix 1 Report from the Sustainable Communities Working Group.

STONNALL VILLAGE PLAN – “OUR VILLAGE” – FROM A PLANNING PERSPECTIVE

1 Introduction.

1.1 The current document “Our Village” provides a critical first step in the preparation of the Village Plan for Stonnall which it is hoped will be ultimately adopted as part of the Local Development Framework for

Lichfield District. To assist this evolution Kimberley Evans and I have been asked to provide a professional

planning perspective to the process. 1.2 Consequent to the new agenda highlighted by the “Democracy and Localism Bill” (due to be enacted by

March/April 2012) Stonnall Villagers have declared their intent to lead the way in producing a framework for future development in the Village. This intent was clearly expressed at the village meeting on 17th June

2011. 1.3 The Democracy and Localism Act, when passed, will give grass-root residents a real say in how their

village/neighbourhood develops. And it is really important that the Village picks up this challenge for a number of reasons:  The people who know Stonnall best are residents. They are therefore best-placed to have a view as to how the Village might evolve over the coming years and what development will be seen as acceptable and desirable;  The Village Plan will have the potential to be adopted as part of the Local Development Plan – giving it a real policy status;

 In the absence of a clear local plan and the Regional Spatial Strategy (which will be abolished) a policy vacuum will exist. To address this there will be a new presumption in favour of sustainable

development – giving developers a much stronger likelihood of gaining planning permission in all

cases either through default or appeal.

1.4 Under the Localism Act, for a Village Plan to be adopted as part of the Development Plan, there will be three key tests for it to pass:

1) It should be in conformity with the Local Authority Development Plan

2) It will have to be externally examined to test its soundness etc. This will require that there is a reasonable evidence base and justification for any proposed policies.

3) It will have to gain a majority vote via a Village referendum.

2 Planning issues for Stonnall At an initial discussion between Kimberley Evans and Paul Bayliss a number of significant planning issues were identified within Stonnall which need to be addressed as far as possible through the evolving Village Plan. In no particular order these were:  Public transport  Traffic management  Retail and commercial including the Village Shops  Environmental including the Playing Fields  Housing

2.1 Public Transport There is a limited bus service serving the Village that runs between Walsall and Lichfield. Limitations placed upon the use of this service are frequency (4-5 buses per day) and the high cost of use. Between them these two factors represent a significant constraint to use particularly for those most likely to not have access to their own transport – i.e. the elderly and young people (all of whom have to leave the village for their secondary education). Even though Shenstone train station is only approximately two miles from the outskirts of Stonnall it is very difficult for people to reach this service without a method of vehicular transportation. Access to the train line is vital to reaching not only other parts of the West Midlands region but the country as a whole.

2.2 Traffic Management There is a lot of “rat-running” through the village which has prompted the current speed bumps down Main Street and rumble strips on Church Road. New speed limits have been put on Wallheath Lane and parts of Lynn Lane. This is the beginning of what must be a long term strategy. It is our understanding that SCAR are leading on this issue.

2.3 Retail and commercial including the Village Shops 2.3.1 In Stonnall there is a block of small retail units with maisonettes over; the retail offer currently comprises a general store/newsagents, a restaurant, a fish and chip shop, a hairdressers, a tanning salon and a tattoo parlour. One unit is currently vacant. Additionally there are two public houses, one of which (the Royal Oak) is associated with an unexpired planning permission for a housing development. There is also an unoccupied commercial/retail unit more or less opposite the Royal Oak.

2.3.2 One consequence of the new Government’s reform of the planning system (see Introduction) is that, if current recommendations are accepted, planning permission may not be required to convert business/commercial premises to residential use. This could potentially put any business premises at risk of conversion to housing.

2.3.3 The main planning issue in this theme relates to the shops. Arguably there are currently too many units, some of which do not really satisfy the needs of the village as indicated by the regular vacancies. Coupled to this (a) the poor use of land and (b) the very unappealing nature of the maisonettes above and surrounding environs suggests potential for a significant redevelopment of this part of the village. See “ Master Plan” section below.

2.4 Environmental including the Playing Fields. 2.4.1 The village is a pleasant area with development concentrated around Main Street. There are a few side roads that have enabled subsequent development (mainly 1960s onwards). Within the village envelope development is quite compact, but due to the tightness of Green Belt to the envelope, the countryside is never far away. There are also a number of listed buildings in the village. These two issues – the Green Belt and the Listed Buildings – provide constraints to development.

2.4.2 There is no village green in Stonnall.

2.4.3 The public playing fields in the centre of Stonnall represent a significant resource for the village and appear to be reasonably well used by the local children and dog walkers. There does not appear to be much leisure use made of this resource by other members of the community. Access to the playing fields is via an unwelcoming footpath/access road to the side of the retail block.

2.4.4 In common with much of Staffordshire there is a relatively low tree population in and around the village.

2.4.5 The quarry to the north of the village is approaching the end of its productive life (2013). As such there will need to be extensive remediation works which, in turn, opens up the possibility of a nature reserve or other natural area for recreation uses in the foreseeable future on this land.

2.5 Housing 2.5.1 There are no indications that any large scale, speculative, market housing is required in the village (Core Strategy Shaping our District 2010). Indeed, such schemes would appear to be contrary to the emerging Lichfield Development Plan which states: “Smaller villages will only deliver housing to accommodate local housing needs, mainly within existing settlement limits. Around 4% of the District's housing (around 350 dwellings) will be met within the village boundaries of these smaller villages, through the conversion of existing buildings and to meet identified local needs.” 2.5.2 Houses in Stonnall, in common with other parts of the Shenstone Parish, command a price premium in comparison to the neighbouring West Midlands conurbation. This, in conjunction with the fact that the village has a low turnover of housing (i.e. when people move to the village they tend to remain for a long time) and the older demography of the village suggests that there is a need for some additional affordable housing provision in the village to address identified local housing needs (see quote from Lichfield LDF at para 2.5.1). This would be targeted in order to: a) Enable older people who live in the village to move out of their family home into a dwelling more suitable to their retirement but at the same time stay in the Village and retain their ties. Additionally, this would have the effect of freeing up some market housing for people to either move into the village or for young people who have grown up in Stonnall to stay in the Village to raise their own families;

b) Enable younger people who have grown up in the Village that would otherwise have to move away to afford accommodation to access affordable housing in the village to raise their own families if they wish.

3 Master-planning 3.1 For an appropriate Village Plan for Stonnall to be developed it is important that the issues discussed above are considered in a holistic way rather than in isolation from each other. The following paragraphs suggest three key schemes that the Village Plan might focus around and incorporate those proposed by the PB/KE discussions as well as those made by others (in particular Cllr David Smith).

3.2 Proposed Re-Development of the Shops. 3.2.1 The aim of this proposal is to: a) regenerate the retail offer in the village whilst at the same time ensuring it is more appropriate to village needs and improving the physical appearance of the shops; b) Enhance the appearance of the village centre by the incorporation of a new village green in front of the new development, c) Through good design improve the accessibility of the playing fields and bring them into the village.

3.2.2 To enable the viability of the scheme it is suggested that a Design/Planning expert is consulted as soon as possible to fully assess the viability.

3.3 Proposed Housing 3.3.1 Firstly, that a new, discrete energy efficient retirement housing development of about 12 units is brought forward for which preference would be given to current Stonnall resident or those with close connections with the village.

3.3.2 The site for such a development would need to be relatively close to the village centre in order to enable ready access for the elderly residents to the facilities of the village (village halls, shops, pubs, playing fields (with possible bowling green), village green and GP surgery) and should ideally be on land that is already developed to enhance acceptability and minimise take of green land.

3.3.3 Ideally the selected site should be set well back from the main road to enable an environment of quietude but at the same time should be well designed to ensure the integration of the development into the village.

3.3.3 The development should incorporate appropriate energy efficiency initiatives to minimise future running costs for the residents. These could be a mix of such technologies as on-site combined heat and power generation, ground source heat pump, solar water heating or solar PV electricity generation.

3.3.4 It is suggested that a Design/Planning expert is consulted as soon as possible to fully assess the viability of this proposal to go to a future Village Meeting.

3.3.5 Secondly, that consideration for a small amount of 2-3 bedroom affordable housing is given in order to encourage the current younger residents, who would not otherwise be able to afford houses in the village, to stay and bring their families up in Stonnall. Again perhaps about 12 dwelling units is an appropriate level of development. Depending on design, site size, etc. it is possible that some of these dwellings might be associated with the proposed redevelopment of the shops in the village.

3.4 Proposed Environmental Developments

3.4.1 The Jubilee Walk, a tree-lined pedestrian avenue should be created to celebrate Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee. This scheme would follow the footpath running from the shops, past the playing fields towards Church Lane, enhance the adjacent playing fields and provide a natural focal point for the village. The

Jubilee Walk would be closely integrated into the redevelopment of the shops to provide a seamless permeability and considerably enhance the appearance of the development.

3.4.2 The creation of a new Village Green in front of the new shops development. This would also be linked via paved pedestrian walkways to the playing fields and the Jubilee Walk.

3.4.3 The planting of a tree for each and every Stonnall resident to help increase our tree cover, act as a local carbon sink and improve local biodiversity. This amounts to 1200 trees (including the Jubilee Walk) for

which sites will need to be found both within and around the village. This might include road margins, field margins, areas of unproductive agricultural land and the quarry area.

3.4.4 That consideration is given to ways in which the user groups of the Playing Fields might be widened – in

particular the elderly who represent a significant proportion within the village’s population. This would provide an alternative meeting place and provide opportunities for exercise and recreation. Examples might

include a bowling green and pavilion and /or tennis courts. Recommendations

1 That this paper, or an edited version, is shared with the wider “Our Village” Team as soon as

possible and its proposals discussed within the context of the “Our Vision” document and ultimately the Village Plan itself.

2 A Design/Planning expert is consulted as soon as possible to fully assess the viability of the Shop

Redevelopment and the Retirement complex proposals before they are made public via a Village meeting or a Draft Plan.

Kimberley Evans BSocSc MA. Paul Bayliss MA PGDipTP